Friday, April 28, 2017

In 2013 the almighty Netflix brought to light the series House Of Cards. Starring the magnificent Kevin Spacey and directed (among others) by the always interesting David Fincher, this political drama tells the story of Frank Underwood, Democrat politician with untiring eagerness for power. Based on manipulations, plots and various strategies (of dubious legality) we accompany the protagonist in his scale to power skipping over all democratic barriers.

The name House of Cards is a perfect reference to the meticulousness of his actions, to erect his political castle, where any false step can cause it to collapse. Today in our review of the best of the week in cybersecurity we find plots worthy of the Netflix series, rigging in elections, blackmail and much more.
We started the week with the American president. 90 days later, President Trump breached his pledge to report on alleged cyberattacks during the presidential election. We did not know if the report would address these cyberattacks or would be an action plan to address such a delicate issue as cybersecurity. Finally, it seems that we are left with the desire to know it.

As if that weren't enough, the hangover of the French elections brings us a headache that reminds us of what happened in the United States. After Macron's tight victory, and Le Pen’s second place, we found out that the group of Russian hackers who had already disrupted the US election could have attacked again.

And with all the comings and goings of politics, we are faced with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On the occasion of its presentation, Tripwire's colleagues took the opportunity to shed some light on this new regulation promoted by the European Union to ensure our privacy. Will it make cyberworld a safer place?

And to cap it all, when governments try to do things right, it is often the Internet itself that make it difficult. Yesterday we found out that the UK government complained to Twitter over a block on access to data from the social network. This information is crucial so that leaders can detect potential terrorist attacks.

However, not everything is going to be political this week. There have also been several cases of blackmail. Users of Ashley Madison suffer at the hands of cybercriminals once again, as they have threatened to publish on Facebook their data unless, of course, they pay. This news becomes alarming when just yesterday a Trustlook study reported that 40% of victims of ransomware pay to rescue their devices.

As we have seen, day-to-day politics in the digital area is at the level of the blackmail and corruption plot of House of Cards. That's why, considering how dangerous it can be to not worry about these issues, we have to be always on guard, in case some Frank Underwood come to blackmail us with what he knows about us.